


moving on

by aqreste



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, adrienette - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-16
Updated: 2020-02-18
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:07:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,612
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22757521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aqreste/pseuds/aqreste
Summary: (this is a no superhero au) adrien and marinette both had feelings for each other but believed it was one sided so they moved on to new people. shocker! soulmates will always find a way to be together in the end.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	1. meant to be.

**BACKSTORY**

Adrien lay on his comforter, head facing the ceiling that seemed an infinite amount of space from him. The school day had been nothing but sluggish, as he had sat in his 12th grade class. It wasn't a normal school day though. The fact that it was Valentine's Day gave Adrien nothing but trouble. Him being a model meant that he would have girls throwing themselves at him on a daily basis. But on this day? It was a journey through hell. Opening his locker, letters upon letters would come pouring out confessing their love for him. He wasn't interested in a single one of them though. They were all ruthless, all apart from one girl.

Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She and Adrien had been best friends since the end of 7th grade when he joined Françoise Dupont. He had never told her, but he fell in love with her and he hated having to call her a friend. That was when he was 14 and his little brain was innocent with a little crush. Now, it was intensified. He was 16, for Christ's sake. Anyone would be a fool not to notice Marinette's newfound assets. But it wasn't just that, in fact that was the least important reason he loved her. It was the way she would put everyone before herself, her kindness, her bravery. Even how stubborn she was. Marinette was the first person that had looked at him without any intent to use him, without wanting his money, just wanting to be his friend. A real friend. And he would always cherish that.

Adrien wanted to tell her how he felt. To finally get it off his chest and pray to God that she would return his feelings. But by the time he built up the courage, someone had already beaten him to the punch. It was already a kick in the teeth that Marinette was happy with another boy, but it was worse that it happened to be Julien Matthieu. He hadn't done anything to Adrien per-say, and Adrien wasn't the type to hate without cause, but something about Julien didn't sit right with him. Julien was a model too, worked for the same management as Adrien, and had a casting for the same modelling job. Adrien got the job, without difficulty of course, but Julien had an air about him that made him seem overtly arrogant. 

But Marinette must see something in him that he doesn't. If he makes her happy, he can't complain. Because that's all he wants for her.

Adrien threw the letter he wrote for her in the trash next to him and walked in the opposite direction.

The same day, Marinette had also mustered up the courage to tell Adrien her feelings. That she had loved him since he gave her that umbrella in the downpour. It was a memory she would never forget. It made her feel awful every time he called her his friend. But, she figured if she never told him how much she loved him, nothing would ever happen.

Now that she was 16, she had thankfully controlled her short-lived stutter that she obtained every time he spoke to her. Her past self cringed her out badly whenever she thought of falling into him, which was something she used to do frequently. Now she and Adrien were practically stitched at the hip, and she thought Valentine's Day was the perfect time to alter their relationship for either the better or worse. 

Marinette was making her way towards his last class before someone caught up with her.

"Julien! Hey, how are you?" She greeted him.

"I'm doing great actually. I haven't spoken to you in a while so I thought we could catch up." he spoke softly and smiled at her. 

"Do you mind if I come back in a little while? It's just I have to speak to Adrien about something pretty important." She gestured to something in her hands.

Julien looked down and saw she was holding an envelope with Adrien's name on it in pink pen. A heart was drawn next to it.

"Of course. Can I just tell you something quickly?" he switched places with her so he was facing the door Adrien was coming out of any second.

"Look, I have kind of had feelings for you for a while now. I'm not expecting anything from you but i got you this." Julien pulled out a teddy bear from his bag and handed it to her.

"Julien, thank you so much for this, it's a really kind gesture. We can talk about this later, I really have to get going. Thank you again!" she smiled and ran towards Adrien's classroom.

There was no one in the room other than the teacher and Nino. 

"If you're looking for Adrien, he just left the building- you can catch him if you run." Nino smirked.

Marinette laughed, wondering how he knew but came to the conclusion that it was definitely Alya.

She ran down the stairs to the front of the school building and saw him at the bottom- but he wasn't alone. 

It was like her whole world had fallen apart at the sight.

The sight of Adrien and Madeleine Villeneuve stepping inside the back of Adrien's car together. 

Marinette dropped her letter onto the floor in defeat. It was wishful thinking to hope she would return her feelings.

But, if it made him happy then she couldn't complain. Because that's all she wanted for him.

Even if they aren't meant to be.


	2. chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the first chapter of moving on. adrienette is dead and both sides of the party are not happy about it. but they have to move on. besides, their feelings are one-sided, right?

**One year later.......**

It was the end of the first lesson in Francoise Dupont and the class had retired to their unfinished conversations. It had been a little over a year since Valentine's Day and both Adrien and Marinette had sort of managed to focus on someone else. An emphasis on the sort of.

"So, did Julien spill any details about where he's taking you tonight?" Alya asked her best friend.

"No, he said he wanted it to be a surprise and wouldn't give me any hints." she explained.

Alya looked in the direction of Nino and Adrien who were sat in front of them and then back at Marinette.

"I thought you didn't like surprises because you like to be prepared." She said a little louder than before, and with a tone that screamed "he doesn't even know you".

Anyone with half a brain could tell Alya was not exactly on Julien's team since she was rooting for Adrien.

"I mean it's true that I'm not a fan of surprises. But it's fine, because I'm sure whatever he's planned is really romantic so it's worth it." Marinette gushed.

Alya leaned in to her ear.

"I bet Adrien would know exactly how to romance you because he knows you so well." She whispered cheekily.

Marinette sighed, this was not the first time (and wouldn't be the last either, probably) that Alya had mentioned Adrien while talking about Julien.

"Alya, I'm trying so hard to forget about those feelings and it really doesn't help when you remind me about how much better he is." 

"So you admit he's better?" Alya crossed her arms in victory.

"How are you and Madeleine, bro?" Nino asked Adrien.

Adrien thought for a minute before giving an answer.

"Good, I guess." He shrugged.

Nino looked at his friend in disbelief with his eyebrows raised.

"What do you mean, 'you guess?' I thought you were happy?" Nino expressed.

"Don't get me wrong, she's amazing and we have a lot of fun." Adrien spoke.

"But?"

Adrien was clearly still in love with Marinette, but he wasn't going to hurt his own relationship by pining over her, especially since she was so happy with Julien too.

Even though he tried, he couldn't get Marinette out of his head. When he and Madeleine would go to his photo shoots, he would imagine Marinette supporting him there instead of her. When paparazzi bombarded them, Madeleine would answer every question they threw out and so Adrien would be forced to stay too.

But he would always remember the times when the same thing happened while he was with Marinette. She would grab his hand and run through the park. One time, they hid inside the fountain. It was so fun that day. 

No matter what he did with Madeleine, the thought of Marinette was stained onto his brain. He knew it was selfish, but he couldn't help it.

"I can't stop thinking about you know who." He whispered so she wouldn't hear.

Nino cupped his hand to his ear.

"Sorry? I don't think I know who you're talking about. Why don't you tell me her name?" 

Adrien pushed him by the shoulder. "Asshole." 

The bell rang. Everyone rose from their seats and formed their friend groups.

"Hey Adrien." Marinette smiled. Even though it was painful to see him with Madeleine, she still remained friends with him. 

It was the same with Adrien.

"Hey Marinette! How have you been?" He asked.

"Not too bad. I made a new shirt and I think you'll suit it really well. I want to put it on my blog so could you maybe swing by whenever you're free?" She explained. 

"I'd love to! But what about Julien? Did you ask him to model it?" Adrien forced a smile as he mentioned her boyfriend.

"No, I measured him for a few of my other stuff, and the shirt was too big for him. He doesn't have big arms like-" Marinette stopped herself as she realised what she said. 

Adrien stared at the girl and she stared back at him with her hand over her mouth.

Simultaneously, they burst out laughing.

"I'm sorry, Adrien. I don't know why I said that- but you get what I'm saying." She struggled between breaths.

"Don't worry about it, I understand. Besides, I am ripped." Adrien imitated a weightlifter and flexed.

She immediately burst out laughing again before calming herself down.

"I just realised I didn't give you an answer. I'll come round whenever you want me to, just text me and I'll let you know." Adrien answered.

Marinette smiled for about the millionth time in their conversation. Her face began to hurt from it.

Adrien looked at her with the same smile, but maybe too lovingly with his eyes.

"Hope I'm not interrupting anything." A voice broke the eye contact between them.

"Oh, hi Julien! No, you weren't, we were just talking about the shirt I made. You know, the one that wouldn't fit you." She turned her head away from Adrien, who had quickly lost his smile.

"Yeah, I remember." Julien looked away.

Adrien had to bite his tongue to stop himself from laughing.

"Is Adrien in here?" Madeleine walked in to find her boyfriend.

She spotted him and joined the other three, much to Marinette's disdain.

"Hi Madeleine." Adrien gave a small smile to her.

Julien swung his arm around Marinette while maintaining constant eye contact with Adrien.

"We're going now, aren't we Marinette? Nice to see you, Adrien." 

Adrien didn't say anything, but nodded instead.

He hated Julien.


	3. chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> marinette is forcing herself to focus on julien instead of adrien, because it's only her getting hurt from it. meanwhile, adrien is struggling with doing the same.

It was 6 o'clock, an hour before Julien was picking Marinette up from her house and in true Marinette-style, she was not ready. In fact, she hadn't even begun getting ready.

The only text message Marinette received from Julien was 'wear something fancy' which amounted to nothing.

This was why Marinette hated surprises.

What did fancy mean? Was she going to an expensive restaurant or a cute little night planned with a table in a romantic place? They could be going to a normal restaurant, which would mean she could wear a pair of jeans and a fancy shirt. Or she could wear one of her own pieces but that would be even more complicated because should she wear a dress or not? 

Alya's words sprung to mind.

_I bet Adrien would know exactly how to romance you because he knows you so well._

"No, Marinette. Stop thinking about Adrien when you're getting ready for a date with your boyfriend." She muttered to herself.

Then, her phone rang.

_I bet that's Julien right now,_ she thought.

Marinette reached over to her phone and looked at the contact.

Of course. It had to be Adrien, didn't it?

"Hello? It's me, Adrien." He spoke on the other end of the phone.

"Hey! What do you need?" 

"I was just wondering if you could send me a picture of the physics questions?" He asked.

"Yeah of course! Let me just get my textbook and I'll send it right now." She beamed, even though he couldn't see her.

Marinette opened her book and sent him the picture.

"I just got it, thank you so much." 

Marinette thought to ask him something, but she wasn't sure if she should do it.

"Hey, Adrien?" She began, "Do you think we could FaceTime quickly?" Marinette closed her eyes, waiting for his reply.

His end was silent for a few seconds.

"Sure. Do you need help with something?" He inquired.

"Well, yeah. I'm having trouble picking an outfit and you're a model, so." She explained sheepishly.

The FaceTime symbol appeared on her screen. She tapped it and Adrien's face showed up.

"Hey." He smiled at her.

Marinette set her phone balanced on her desk.

"Let's see your options. What's the style here?" Adrien rubbed his hands together and leaned forward.

Marinette rolled her eyes before answering, "Julien said 'fancy' and nothing else." 

"What is that supposed to mean? Dress? Fancy top? It's not very specific!" He ranted.

"That's exactly what I said! How am I meant to know how far to go with it?" She agreed.

Adrien chuckled, knowing how similar they are.

"Okay, I'm going to put my first option on so I'll come back on in a minute." She said.

Somewhere in the back of Adrien's mind, he wanted her to stay on screen.

_Shut up brain!_

After a minute or so, Marinette had finished putting on her dress. It was a silver maxi dress with a thigh split and she paired it with a silver clutch bag. Both of them sparkled as she moved. 

This was a bad idea from both sides.

Marinette walked onto the screen and Adrien stared for a whole ten seconds without speaking.

_one._

_Oh my god, she looks amazing._

_two._

_it should be illegal to look like that._

_three._

_I love her._

_four._

_No. Stop saying that Adrien._

_five._

_Wait, how long have I been staring?_

_six._

_It feels like I've been staring for years. This is too much._

_seven._

_I can't stop!_

_eight._

_I wish she was mine, Julien doesn't even deserve this._

_nine._

_Oh shit, she's waiting for me to reply._

_ten._

_Calm down Agreste, just say it looks nice._

"Adrien?"

"You look perfect. I don't think I've seen someone so beautiful."

_Well shit. That didn't work._

"I mean, I think that looks good. You should go with that." He stuttered and tried to cover himself but ended up digging a deeper hole.

"Thank you, Adrien." Marinette hoped her phone didn't pick up the extreme blush creeping on her face.

The pair stared at each other, as they did in the classroom before they got interrupted. It was by Julien, again. 

Marinette heard her mother greet her boyfriend downstairs.

"Julien's here, so I need to go. It was great speaking to you." She smiled.

"Bye Marinette." He smiled back and ended the call.

How was Marinette supposed to move on from Adrien when he was saying that to her? The words replayed in her head again and again.

This was going to be difficult. 


End file.
